France v Australia

Is there a more inspiring national anthem than La Marseillaise...

Another rousing version with the whole stadium blasting it out...

France dominating the early stages and score a try.

Great try

France looking good Geordie - let's hope they keep it up.

Agree to your comments re: La Marseillaise - great anthem.

Best game of the day. I really hope France don't get their act together before the RWC.

FecklessRogue wrote:Best game of the day. I really hope France don't get their act together before the RWC.

Best game of the weekend i think you meant.

France are RWC specialists. prepare for the worst if it means the winner of your group gets to avoid the ABs

Key stats from first half:
Metres run with ball: France 162 - 112 Australia
Clean breaks: France 5-1 Australia
Takes made / missed: France 70 / 5 - 32 / 8 Australia
Penalties conceded: France 6-2 Australia

Anyone got an update score? Cheers.

France 29 Australia 26

France have a man in the bin. 2 minutes left

France win but they were hanging on.

Good win for France, there is life in the sleeping giant yet!

Congrats whocares, a solid win for France.  T'was a good game to watch.

We showed glimpses... but alas, fell just short as the bubble burst yet again.
Both teams have room for improvement. Ireland will be champing at the bit I'd say.

Cheers LD commiserations to you buddy. Was really expecting wallabies to catch us at the end. This knock on was a bit of a miracle. France were good on the basics and defense but otherwise didnt impress me. Need to watch the game again on tv this time but looks like more like a freak win like the last France-england in the 6N to show any real improvement. Anyway still better than the dross we served in june! Like you said, Wallabies only really played during limited period of time otherwise result would have been different.

Are we back to................................ the return of the mercurial French geniuses????

Welcome backs guys! The cliched world of rugby commentary missed you

FecklessRogue wrote:Best game of the day. I really hope France don't get their act together before the RWC.

They will and always were going to. That's the unfortunate truth. No free sandwiches at the WC.

SecretFly wrote:

FecklessRogue wrote:Best game of the day. I really hope France don't get their act together before the RWC.

They will and always were going to.  That's the unfortunate truth.  No free sandwiches at the WC.

bloody Frenchmen , just randomly deciding they'll knock over an SH team just to remind everyone they can be a force to be reckoned with when they're in the mood .

My votes for teddy Thomas for try of the year.

France looked good, and it's a bit of a new look team. I wonder if they'll take it into the 6 Nations? They didn't the last time they had a good autumn.

Good to see the French back with a bit of form.

World rugby always needs a bit of French joie de vivre.

Best game of the AIs so far, by some distance.

The Loaded Dog wrote:Congrats whocares, a solid win for France.  T'was a good game to watch.

We showed glimpses... but alas, fell just short as the bubble burst yet again.
Both teams have room for improvement. Ireland will be champing at the bit I'd say.

They almost nicked it at the end, I thought they were going to but then I remembered they weren't playing Wales.... I think people are harsh on Aus sometimes. They're doing well considering all the internal fighting that went on. They'll certainly be a force next year.

I have a feeling the French will excel at the next world cup.

Upwards and onwards from here I think...

Comfort wrote:I have a feeling the French will excel at the next world cup.

Upwards and onwards from here I think...

I wouldn't be surprised at all if they won their group and went on the semis (at least).

I won't be surprised if they win the final..after having lost every pool game and being forced to go home

France.  The Madness.

I don't see it so much as the French inconsistency (they're been consistently mediocre for quite a while) but more they showed signs of getting back to their level.

It's good to see them play some rugby. The 6 Nations needs it. NH rugby is a bit uninspiring without the French in some form.

You mean the French there (strong in the 6N) to thin out the turnips?

Yeah, you might have a point.

The Saint has it right. one good performance (hopefully backed by a close victory vs argentina) will not mean much. France tends to lose focus after a while and its natural trend of results is a string of disapointing defeats with a one off decent performance every few moons . they might pull a or 2 surprise during the 6N but winning both away in dublin and london is a bit too much fro france these days. France still dont have any other game plan but to play at 120% of their physical capability and tackle all day hoping to get some decent turnover ball and score a try or two. pretty limited and difficult to repeat every other game.

whocares wrote:The Saint has it right. one good performance (hopefully backed by a close victory vs argentina) will not mean much. France tends to lose focus after a while and its natural trend of results is a string of disapointing defeats with a one off decent performance every few moons . they might pull a or 2 surprise during the 6N but winning both away in dublin and london is a bit too much fro france these days. France still dont have any other game plan but to play at 120% of their physical capability and tackle all day hoping to get some decent turnover ball and score a try or two. pretty limited and difficult to repeat every other game.

But they might do it this year. They'll beat Argentina I reckon.